Perspective Is Everything
by AlainnRain
Summary: Naruto expected a few things from these mock fights, but intense pain really hadn't been one of them. Or Naruto's perspective of the spar with Sai. Part of the Deadman Walking Universe.


**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto. I do, however, own the plot to this story and Hikari.

**Summery:** Naruto expected a few things from these mock fights, but intense pain really hadn't been one of them. Or Naruto's perspective of the spar with Sai.

**Rating:** T for now. Please tell me if you feel it needs a higher rating; I will change it.

**Warning:** Trigger warning for Implied/Referenced Torture

Naruto didn't like the idea of sparing with his former teammates. He didn't really want to be back in Konoha at all either, but they'd had no choice and every second he spent back where he grew up had him terrified that someone would somehow recognize him and force him to stay. To be Konoha's hated jinchuuriki again. He woke up that morning so nauseated at the thought his fighting style might be recognized that he couldn't even stomach the slightest bit of food.

Standing through Hikari's sparring session with Sakura, had given him time to calm down; to focus on someone other than himself, and now that he'd forced himself to breathe deeply through the stress he found himself to be starving. All he could think of was how much he wanted this over so he could use food to stop his stomach from eating itself the way it felt like it was trying to do now. He'd realized over the years that being a jinchuuriki meant he needed more food to maintain his energy than the average ninja, and he knew he'd be getting snapish with his comrades soon if he didn't eat. Knowing that Gaara was almost finished with the healing jutsu Naruto cleared his throat, "So can we get this over with? I'm hungry."

Gaara sighed and two of the three Konoha Shinobi looked at him with disgruntled faces. Naruto knew Gaara sometimes found him to be annoying, and maybe he could have chosen a better way to voice his need for food, but the clenching of his empty stomach and his wish to leave and never set foot in this village again outweighed any guilt he might have felt.

He knew Hikari was trying to play the median and ease the tension when she gasped dramatically, "Kyūbi's tails, Gaara! Ni-san is hungry!" Her joking sarcasm leading her to slump heavily into Gaara's side in a feigned swoon. "The world must be ending!"

Naruto saw Kakashi's eyes widened minutely at her words, and wondered what the man was thinking before reminding himself that he didn't care. Hikari had taken to using such phrases because she could feel through their bond just how much it pleased Shukaku and amused Kurama. He also thought she herself got a measure of amusement over people's reactions to them. "Eh," Naruto waved her off, the restless energy he'd been keeping tightly bound almost making him bounce with the need to expend it."We have one match to go, yeah? Lets do it!"

"You are strange." Sai bluntly interrupted Naruto's energy; a phony, happy smile and tone in place.

Naruto heard Sakura snort at her teammate, and wondered at the mild response. Sakura seemed to have learned at least a little restraint since his days as her teammate. Sai, however, kept more of his attention. The way the other black haired ninja spoke was unnerving in a way that almost made his skin crawl. He'd never heard someone speak in a way that was so unknowingly fake before. He forced the thoughts away for the moment, now was not the time to analyze what could cause such an emotionally disconnected tone.

"Same rules apply." Kakashi stated, obviously attempting to ignore the interruption. "You can start once we're clear."

Taking their places on the field, the other members of their extended team moved back to the sidelines.

For several moments neither of them moved. Both stood motionless, sizing each other up, waiting for the other to make a move. The field was filled with a tense atmosphere only broken when Hikari impatiently yelled,"For the love of Shukaku! Will you freaking spar already!"

Grateful for her interference, Naruto couldn't help but laugh happily at her outburst, and swiftly make his first move in response. Flashing to behind his opponent he swung his fist towards Sai's head to test his response time; pleased when he blocked the punch and moved to return a punch of his own. Before his strike could land, Naruto pulled back and shifted down into a leg sweep that Sai avoided by jumping into the air while throwing out jutsu scrolls. A few swipes of a paint brush and a hand sign brought beastly, ink black snakes slithering his way. Jumping this way and that, Naruto evaded the snakes with his speed, but curiosity made him wonder what the snakes were actually meant to do. A second thought of letting himself be caught so he could find something to eat made him slow down just enough to let one snake catch him.

The instant the snake sank fangs into his skin, Naruto knew he'd made a mistake. It felt like someone had heated large fishing hooks in a forge fire until they glowed a hot orange and shoved them into his insides before yanking at them in repeated attempts to rip him open. More and more hooks sank inside him, causing him to lose his fast pace and his ballance, and land flailing on his back. Excruciating pain lanced through his body. Panicking, he vaguely knew the painful things were trying to pull out his chakra, and he fought hard to keep his chakra inside his body. An even harsher yank from all the hooks at once had him shouting his agony and suddenly he was no longer on a green training field but rather on a cold stone table in a dim lit room. A sickeningly smooth voice whispered in his ear, "You know I'm only going to make it hurt worse if you keep screaming and fighting me."

A harsh exhale ended the shouts, and fear made him freeze as though he'd been paralized. Soon after he quit fighting the pain eased slightly and then vanished, leaving only sore muscles, from how tightly he'd had them clenched, in its wake. Another moment and his mind registered the bright sunlight above him, and not a cold stone ceiling. Taking deep breaths, he forced himself to hold it together; he wasn't in that room anymore. He hadn't been in that room in years now, and he hated that it could still reduce him to such a pathetic state of frozen terror.

He took another few breaths, focusing on the heat from the sun, the fresh breeze, and the warmth of Kurama spreading his chakra under his skin to remind him that it was all still present. He slowly pushed himself back to his feet just in time for Kakashi to call them all over to him.

Moving gingerly, Naruto did his best to hide just how shaken up he was, fighting a wince when he notice Shikamaru standing bedside his former Sensei looking just as he always had. Same dark messy ponytail, same calculating brown eyes, just older with the uniform of a jonin ninja rather than a chunin.

Shikamaru was too intelligent to only be sent around as a messenger, and warily Naruto knew that meant Konoha had taken a special interest in knowing more about them. Naruto could only hope he'd covered his tracks enough that there wouldn't be anything for the brown haired genius to find.

The sooner they finished this job and left, the better.


End file.
